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IMDbPro

Swing Shift

  • 19841984
  • PGPG
  • 1h 40m
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
4.9K
YOUR RATING
Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, and Fred Ward in Swing Shift (1984)
Trailer for this Jonathan Demme film
Play trailer1:26
1 Video
92 Photos
  • Drama
  • Romance
  • War
A woman finds romance when she takes a job at an aircraft plant to help make ends meet after her husband goes off to war.A woman finds romance when she takes a job at an aircraft plant to help make ends meet after her husband goes off to war.A woman finds romance when she takes a job at an aircraft plant to help make ends meet after her husband goes off to war.
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
4.9K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Jonathan Demme
  • Writers
    • Nancy Dowd
    • Bo Goldman(uncredited)
    • Ron Nyswaner(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Goldie Hawn
    • Kurt Russell
    • Christine Lahti
Top credits
  • Director
    • Jonathan Demme
  • Writers
    • Nancy Dowd
    • Bo Goldman(uncredited)
    • Ron Nyswaner(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Goldie Hawn
    • Kurt Russell
    • Christine Lahti
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 38User reviews
    • 19Critic reviews
    • 60Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 1 win & 3 nominations total

    Videos1

    Swing Shift
    Trailer 1:26
    Swing Shift

    Photos92

    Goldie Hawn in Swing Shift (1984)
    Goldie Hawn in Swing Shift (1984)
    Goldie Hawn in Swing Shift (1984)
    Goldie Hawn and Holly Hunter in Swing Shift (1984)
    Stephen Tobolowsky in Swing Shift (1984)
    Roger Corman and Stephen Tobolowsky in Swing Shift (1984)
    Kurt Russell and Christine Lahti in Swing Shift (1984)
    Goldie Hawn in Swing Shift (1984)
    Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, and Christine Lahti in Swing Shift (1984)
    Goldie Hawn and Christine Lahti in Swing Shift (1984)
    Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell in Swing Shift (1984)
    Goldie Hawn in Swing Shift (1984)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Goldie Hawn
    Goldie Hawn
    • Kay Walsh
    Kurt Russell
    Kurt Russell
    • Lucky Lockhart
    Christine Lahti
    Christine Lahti
    • Hazel Zanussi
    Fred Ward
    Fred Ward
    • Biscuits Toohey
    Ed Harris
    Ed Harris
    • Jack Walsh
    Sudie Bond
    Sudie Bond
    • Annie
    Holly Hunter
    Holly Hunter
    • Jeannie Sherman
    Patty Maloney
    Patty Maloney
    • Laverne
    Lisa Pelikan
    Lisa Pelikan
    • Violet Mulligan
    Susan Peretz
    Susan Peretz
    • Edith Castle
    Joey Aresco
    Joey Aresco
    • Johnny Bonnaro
    Morris 'Tex' Biggs
    • Clarence
    Reid Cruickshanks
    • Spike
    Danny Darst
    • Deacon
    • (as Daniel Dean Darst)
    Dennis Fimple
    Dennis Fimple
    • Rupert George
    Chris Lemmon
    Chris Lemmon
    • Lt. O'Connor
    • (as Christopher Lemmon)
    Charles Napier
    Charles Napier
    • Moon Willis
    Stephen Tobolowsky
    Stephen Tobolowsky
    • French deMille…
    • Director
      • Jonathan Demme
    • Writers
      • Nancy Dowd
      • Bo Goldman(uncredited)
      • Ron Nyswaner(uncredited)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In an early scene, Ed Harris, clad only in a towel wrapped around his waist, plops down on a chair. For a split second, his genitals are fully exposed. This scene somehow evaded the censors (and in a PG-rated film) and in the first video release, the scene is intact. The scene has now disappeared from subsequent releases. However, it is included on the print shown on Turner Classic Movies.
    • Goofs
      When the service men are boarding the bus, and Kay is saying goodbye to her husband, a man appears with a megaphone to announce the bus is departing. His megaphone is a self-contained transistor one which was not available in 1941.
    • Quotes

      Kay Walsh: I was in love!

      Hazel: Shut up!

    • Crazy credits
      Opening credits are shown over old, black and white photos.
    • Alternate versions
      CBS edited 5 minutes from this film for its 1987 network television premiere.
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Unlawful Entry/Pinocchio/A League of Their Own/Highway 61/The Adjuster (1992)
    • Soundtracks
      Someone Waits For You
      Performed by Carly Simon

      Produced by Richard Perry

      Music by Peter Allen

      Lyrics by Will Jennings

    User reviews38

    Review
    Top review
    Swing Shift is a nice period piece.
    I really did like this movie. There's a lot to like. It's the beginning of World War II, and all the men are being called to the Army. Goldie Hawn and Ed Harris are a typical American couple thus pulled apart. Goldie gets a Rosie the Riveter job, where she meets Kurt Russel, a 4F plant foreman, and the rest is history.

    Swing Shift was directed by Jonathan Demme, of Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia fame, and if this one is a little lighter, it was also a lot earlier in his career. Holly Hunter appears in a very small supporting role, but gives it her star-quality best. Christine Lahti is magnificent as the single neighbor who befriends Goldie at the factory even though she and her husband were cruel to her before the war changed everyone's lives. Fred Ward was already becoming old hat, but he, like the rest of the film, ends up being likeable and thoroughly enjoyable.

    Hawn and Russell met on the set and have been together ever since. Maybe the excitement of their real-life romance drained the spark from their on-screen version. This could have been a really moving story of a woman who falls in love while her husband is off to war, but ends up showing us a couple of bump-buddies killing time till their real lives resume. Perhaps that was the point.

    Ed Harris is perfectly cast as the common man trying to keep his marriage together in the face of all that life throws in its way. There is a famous scene, in which Ed, wearing nothing but a bath towel, plops into a floppy chair with a cold beer. The resulting bounce proves that Harris is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, and explains why this charming little tale will never be on DVD.

    Swing Shift is a nice period piece, and provides an amusing, if not entirely accurate, view of the tumultous years in the middle of the last century when the entire world went to war.
    helpful•8
    4
    • budmassey
    • Jul 5, 2001

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 13, 1984 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Swing Shift - Liebe auf Zeit
    • Filming locations
      • Long Beach, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Warner Bros.
      • Lantana
      • Hawn / Sylbert Movie Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $15,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $6,650,206
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $2,270,136
      • Apr 15, 1984
    • Gross worldwide
      • $6,650,206
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 40 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

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